Debate contributions by Giuseppe LUPO

Mr President, Madam Minister, ladies and gentlemen, in the meantime I congratulate the rapporteurs. The agreement reached for the 2026 budget goes in the right direction, cancelling the cuts proposed by the Council and providing for increases for the most important policies of the European Union, including research, education, health, social, youth. However, this is not enough for the future: the European Union needs more investment and therefore a larger budget. The current resources are not sufficient to finance the new strategic priorities and, at the same time, to keep the Union's historic objectives, such as cohesion policy, central, as well as to provide adequate support to sectors in difficulty, such as fisheries and agriculture. This requires the rapid adoption of new own resources and the use of common debt, as Mario Draghi argued. Without cohesion, there can be no future for competitiveness in Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the proposal for a multiannual budget for 2028-2034 is not adequate to meet the priorities and challenges of the European Union. Workers' and entrepreneurs' associations and regions do not like it. The nationalisation of cohesion, agriculture and fisheries funds is a serious political mistake which weakens the role of Parliament, the regions and the European Union. The Multiannual Financial Framework has too limited resources to address the fight against inequalities, the new challenges of defence, competitiveness, the green and digital transition, and agriculture and fisheries policies. More revenue is needed, with a higher contribution from Member States, with new own revenues and with the common debt for investment and growth. We call on the Commission to amend the proposal of the next MFF for a stronger, more solidarity-based and competitive Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, the Committee on Fisheries believes that funding for fisheries and aquaculture is essential for the well-being of coastal and island communities, guaranteeing a common fisheries policy capable of reconciling competitiveness, environmental and social sustainability. That is why the Committee on Fisheries calls for the expenditure reductions requested by the Fisheries Council for 2026 to be rejected and for the appropriations to be increased in the next multiannual budget 2028-2034. Because safety on board, generational renewal, gender balance and the protection of marine biodiversity can no longer wait. We defend the work of fishermen and food security, so that fish is available in all the canteens of schools in Europe and not only on the tables of the rich.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, around 35 000 hectares went up in smoke in Italy in 2025; Protected areas have also been heavily affected. Among the most affected regions are Sardinia and Sicily, where hundreds of fires have occurred. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change are undoubtedly a serious risk factor. To deal with these disasters, which have cost the lives of too many people, causing serious damage to the environment and the economy, we need a new European strategy based on prevention, which the civil protection mechanism certainly represents, and in any case plays a crucial role. A plan is needed including stable and skilled employment of forest workers and firefighters, using new technologies such as drones and satellite systems. Forest workers and firefighters must be able to operate in complete safety. I thank them for their hard work against the fires.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I too would like to thank the rapporteur for her excellent work. The Draghi report puts us in front of reality: Europe needs to catch up on competitiveness, innovation and attracting investment. Our parliamentary group strongly supports the need to attract private capital and to strengthen public investment. This is possible by using good common debt to finance investments in strategic priorities and productivity gains, as President Draghi also recently said. Europe must invest in the fight against social inequalities and territorial inequalities, in the fight against gender inequalities. The Draghi report must soon be translated into a political agenda for sustainable growth, with a greater focus on the weakest areas and on young people.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the comments that have emerged about the use of around EUR 4 million by the far-right group ID, which is now dissolved, raise questions that need to be clarified - we hope soon - and that require answers to be given to citizens about the use of European public funds. It is not a question of fuelling political controversy, but of defending the principles of fairness, transparency and accountability on which citizens' trust in the European institutions is based. The news of the opening of an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office against the ID group may clarify the nature of some expenses and lead to the possible, due recovery of funds. We support the work of Parliament’s administration to ensure full transparency, including through the role of all relevant authorities. We will engage in the work of the Committee on Budgetary Control to ensure that these guarantees are fully respected. Defending the rules for transparency is a priority of the European Parliament because it means defending legality and defending the financial interests of the European Union and its citizens.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the NextGenerationEU has certainly saved the European economy and millions of jobs in recent years from the COVID-induced crisis. I would like to thank here all those who worked for this important objective, including the Commissioner for the Economy of the time, Paolo Gentiloni. The implementation of the RRF, however, has shown limitations, in particular, for example, in peripheral regions and especially in islands, precisely with regard to the transport sector, but in general in Europe with regard to cross-border connections. We are still waiting in Sicily for the financing project for the construction of the doubling of the Castelbuono-Patti railway line, as well as in Sardinia we are still waiting for the project and we are still waiting for the resources for the construction of the Abbasanta-Nuoro railway line. Nuoro is the only capital of Italy that does not have a railway line worthy of the name. It is therefore necessary to give new impetus to NextGenerationEU investments, with an 18-month extension. In our opinion, it is a necessary extension for mature projects, especially for cross-border transport, for the environment, for the construction of the infrastructure necessary to reduce inequalities and also to improve the conditions of citizenship relating to health and education and the competitiveness of the European Union, which must certainly be improved by also creating new job opportunities, especially for the youngest, especially where unfortunately work is lacking.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I bring here the voice of the fishermen I have met in recent weeks, who share the view that the Oceans Pact is an opportunity to strengthen European action to protect marine ecosystems and for a sustainable and socially just blue economy. I agree with Commissioner Kadis' proposals, but I believe it is essential that the blue transition takes account of the different territorial realities and challenges faced by many coastal communities, particularly in the Mediterranean. Commissioner, I share your view that a new strategy for islands is needed. I am thinking of the large Mediterranean islands, such as Sicily and Sardinia, and I am thinking of our many smaller islands, contexts that make a decisive contribution to the fishing sector, which today need adequate tools to face a moment of serious crisis. It is therefore crucial to strengthen the EMFF for fisheries to ensure better working conditions for fishermen. We continue to work together for a fairer European fisheries policy, more attentive to the work of fishermen and the entire supply chain, more attentive to coastal communities and islands.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like in particular to express my support for granting discharge to the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), having been rapporteur. As highlighted in the paragraphs of the text on which we have worked, the Agency plays an essential role in combating illegal fishing, in the implementation of the common fisheries policy. The accounts are in order: the operational activity, with almost 45 000 inspections in 2023, confirms a concrete and structured commitment: an important commitment. I would like to take this opportunity to draw attention to the difficult situation in the Strait of Sicily, in the western Mediterranean, particularly as regards the fisheries sector, which is going through a deep crisis. Fishermen are really in great difficulty for the reduction of stocks, for the increase in costs and also - and this is the point - for the pressure deriving from unfair practices, sometimes illegal, by non-European fleets. I believe that the EFCA can and must effectively counteract any form of unfair competition and illegality on this very basis.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Europe needs a multiannual budget 2028-2034 that is more ambitious than the current one in order to finance key programmes for cohesion, agriculture, fisheries, social policies and to tackle the new challenges of the climate, digital, common defence and competitiveness transitions. A budget with a higher spending capacity and thus higher revenues is therefore needed; it is necessary to increase the historic ceiling by 1 %; it is necessary to establish new own resources and to use the common debt. Even more, all this is necessary if we consider that the European Union will have to repay 357 billion of NextGenerationEU loan, which from 2028 to 2034 could commit 25-30 billion euros per year, reducing the spending capacity of the budget by about 20%, a cut that would not be sustainable for the economy, competitiveness and employment of the European Union. If the right-wing Member States in the Council continue to prevent the increase in own resources, they will be responsible for a real economic and social catastrophe for the whole of Europe.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I agree with your introductory report. The Ocean Pact must strengthen the protection of marine ecosystems and the promotion of the sustainable blue economy, ensuring the economic and social dimension, in particular in the Mediterranean, which is facing a serious crisis that is putting a strain on coastal communities, especially on islands such as Sicily and Sardinia. Commissioner Kadis, I know that you are listening to the protagonists of fisheries: I ask you to pay particular attention to the fishermen and fleets of the Strait of Sicily, which suffer from strong competition from third countries.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Europe's future depends on its ability to invest and boost competitiveness in a strategic and inclusive way. For 2026, it will be crucial to have a strong budget and to focus European funds on key areas that can ensure real change. First, young people: Investing in education and training, in particular for youth and women's employment, is essential for the development of disadvantaged areas in the European Union, such as Sicily and Sardinia. There is a need to step up investment in health and research, humanitarian aid cut by the Trump administration, to help people affected by war, famine and natural disasters – as recently, unfortunately, in Burma. Vogliamo un'Europa che investe sul futuro, che investe sui giovani; un'Europa che sia più equa, coesa e prospera.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I very much welcome the presentation of the Roadmap for Women's Rights and I thank the Executive Vice-President, Roxana Mînzatu, for her excellent work. Despite the important steps forward, there are still strong gender gaps, especially in the most disadvantaged areas, such as Sicily, Sardinia, southern Italy, where unfortunately women's employment is still too low also due to the insufficiency of services to the family. It is necessary to invest, to invest in kindergartens, in kindergartens, in particular where the lack of services is still causing serious inequalities. We must support work-life balance policies, encouraging parental leave, flexible working hours, and women's work, which is essential for the growth of the entire economic system for a fairer society.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are unfortunately witnessing dramatic climatic events all over Europe. In this context, the Solidarity Fund intervenes by supporting Member States affected by disasters, demonstrating the concrete proximity of the European Union. Today we are voting on the proposal for a decision, already approved in the Committee on Budgets by all the political groups, to mobilise the fund in favour of Germany and Italy, for an amount of approximately EUR 116 million in relation to the floods that occurred in June 2024. I think it is necessary to adapt the Solidarity Fund to deal with future emergencies. I would like to thank all the cooperating institutions for speeding up the adoption of the mobilisation decision.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I appreciated the report and the work done by the Court of Auditors, in particular the assessments made in relation to the risks associated with the additional costs of financing the RRF. It is well known that, due to the rapid increase in interest rates, the additional costs of borrowing from the RRF under the current MFF could range between EUR 17 and 27 billion. In order to meet these higher costs, I believe it is necessary to provide for new own revenues and at the same time make use of the so-called cascading mechanism, provided for in the agreement with the Council of last February, which gave rise to the EURI instrument. Otherwise the only alternative will be budget cuts, budget cuts that we cannot allow, also because this is a budget already weakened by inflation. The European economy, as the Draghi report says, is relaunching with investment and not with cuts.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think we must strongly support the G20's proposal to tax the incomes of the super-rich properly in order to reduce poverty and inequality. A programme supported by Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein and the S&D Group for a fairer tax system to ensure essential services to citizens, such as health and education, and resources to invest in jobs and the green transition. Everyone is required to contribute to public expenditure because of their ability to pay. "The tax system is informed by progressive criteria" reads Article 53 of the Italian Constitution. Because it is right that those who have more, pay more and those who have less, pay less. Europe must condemn tax amnesties and must fight tax evasion also in order to reduce the taxation of the middle classes, workers and pensioners. The recent directive on minimum taxation of 15% for multinationals is a step forward. We continue in this direction for a fairer tax system and a fairer society.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, Mr President, also for having wanted this sitting. It is an honour for me to remember in this Chamber Judge Paolo Borsellino and the agents of his escort Agostino Catalano, Emanuela Loi, Vincenzo Li Muli, Walter Eddie Cosina and Claudio Traina, people heroically engaged in the fight for legality, killed by the mafia in my city, Palermo, on 19 July 1992. After many years we join the pain of the families of the victims, who still today ask to know the truth about the massacre. Among the family members I would like to mention Rita Borsellino, sister of the judge, who was a Member of this Parliament in the seventh legislature and who, after the massacre in Via D'Amelio, spent her life to spread the values of legality and justice, especially among young people. I am sure that in this parliamentary term, under your leadership, President, the European Parliament will work with the same commitment to the same values.